


Some Things Don't Change

by Oboeist3



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon ORAS
Genre: Archie POV, M/M, Mentions of Pre-ORAS Shenanigans, Post-ORAS, Reunion Fic (of sorts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 12:24:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3120113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oboeist3/pseuds/Oboeist3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s four years after the teams disband before Archie sees Maxie again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Things Don't Change

It’s four years after the teams disband before Archie sees Maxie again. Four long years spent in hiding, constantly afloat on his boat, the  _Sealily_ , avoiding Hoenn police forces and generally flying by the seat of his pants. He misses Team Aqua, sometimes, not for their goal, but just the familial bond they all had. He still keeps up with a few of them, Shelly and Matt settled down nicely in Eastern Hoenn, and he’d pop by every once in a while to exchange news, though it’s mostly onesided. Not much changes, living in a boat, but it’s his, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

That wasn’t to stay he couldn’t stand a break though. After so many years, their names have started to fade from the general consciousness. Across the sea, other villainous teams pop up with alarming regularity, always stopped just short of success. With each new attempt, their own failings seem to fall more and more into the category of story than memory. But Archie will never forget. The anger, the power. Even now, he wakes up at night in a cold sweat, heart thumping too fast in his chest.

Of course, being forgotten has it’s perks. He doesn’t have to hide his face as much, blue can finally renter his wardrobe, and with caution, he can even stay on the mainland for a while. At first he limited himself to port cities, but after the colossal collapse of a ‘Team Flare’ in Kalos, Archie is relatively confident the former Team Aqua is not on most people’s minds. So in an act of complete stupidity, he decides to visit Lavaridge and release some stress in the hot springs.

He’s not so stupid as to not take some precautions however. He makes sure to come with a huge tourist flood, making it easier to hide in the crowd, and to act properly amiable and friendly to those around him. The latter isn’t so hard, Archie’s naturally nice, but keeping his booming voice to an unremarkable volume is a bit of a struggle. But he manages to do a decent job, and arrives in the small town without incident.

The first few days he mostly spends sleeping. Living in a boat really makes you appreciate a bed, and one of the Unovan tourists was kind enough to let his Munna snack on his nightmares on the way there, leaving his sleep blissfully quiet. However, even on vacation Archie can’t stand being still for too long. So he drags himself out of bed, eats a hearty breakfast, works out a bit, and finally decides to end the day with a nice soak in the hot springs.

He’s just returning from his run on Route 112, off the Jagged Pass, when he sees him. A man flying down on a Crobat, landing perfectly in front of the Pokemon Center. He’s wearing a red zipped jacket with matching colored skinny jeans of the Kalosian style, but the clunky red boots haven’t changed a bit. Maxie, just standing out in the blue. Without even thinking, Archie rushes over, catching sight of an olive Pokeblock being popped into the bat Pokemon’s mouth as he approaches.

"Maxie, what are you doing here?" he asks and there was a slight expression of surprise on the former Magma leader’s face before shifting into his usual annoyance around Archie.

"What, a man can’t visit his hometown?" he says huffily, and it’s clear his outfit isn’t the only thing that’s changed. Up close, Archie can see that his hair is shorter, only to his ears, though it still swooped out like lava sloping down a cliff. His glasses frames are newer, thinner, making him look less like the nerd Archie always called him by. But the most notable difference is his voice, once the epitome of Western Hoenn, now tinged with a subtle lilt.

"You’ve changed." he says simply, and Maxie rolls his eyes at the melodrama of it. But he can’t help it. In Archie’s mind, Maxie was as unmoving, unchanged as the land he loves so much. But here he is, something so different.

"Moving to another region does that to you." he says dryly, clicking the Pokeball on his belt to call his Crobat back. "Now if you’ll excuse me,  _monsieur_ ,” he says with a sneer that really shouldn’t make his heart jump like that. “It’s been a long day and I have no time for old feuds.” At that he started to walk into the Pokemon Center, but Archie grabs his wrist before he can make it.

"Wait!" he says, causing people’s heads to turn and look at them. "Have dinner with me." he says, much softer and with an intensity that shocks even himself.

"I beg your pardon?!" he says, his face flushing bright red, and Archie’s known Maxie long enough to see he’s moments away from cursing him out fiercer than a drunk sailor.

"Please. It’s been years, and I want to know what my best friend’s been up to." Archie wasn’t expecting something so honest to come out, but it did, and now he’ll simply have to deal with it.

The anger instantly melts like hot wax from Maxie’s face, replaced with something curious, and perhaps a little bit sad. “Fine. I’ll have dinner with you. Now will you let go of my hand?” he says. He doesn’t, but he lets him slip away, which he figures is close enough.

After meeting up with Maxie, he finds he’s lost any interest in the hot springs, heading back to his hotel room and taking a quick shower. He sighs a little when he looks at the clothes he packed, none of them are date material, most dismal attempts at casual wear. Wait a second. Date? Where did that idea come from? He shook his head to dissuade himself of the thought. That’s all over, and had been for a long time.

Still, he can’t help but think of the good days, when he and Maxie were on the same team, merely grunts but eager. Their team name was a convoluted and practically forgotten thing, but the outsiders called them ‘Lifers’, eco-extremists hoping to undo the errors of human industry on the environment. The upper management never told the exact nature of their plans to the grunts, and so they started thinking of their own. Maxie’s were always the best constructed, and every time he had one he would present it to their admin, Timothy, only for it to come back with a rejected stamp across the front page. Sometimes Archie would submit a few of his own, but they were harebrained, full of holes and generally silly. But he was never as cut up about it as Maxie. He seemed to regard every red stamp as a personal brand of failure. Archie was the only one brave (or stupid) enough to cheer him up. Thus, a sort of friendship was formed between the two, Maxie would keep Archie from doing too stupid things, and Archie eased the tension that constantly seemed to build in Maxie like a volcano or geyser. One thing led to another, some faux flirting, alcohol, an equally fortunate and unfortunate cave in while on a mission in Mt. Chimney….

Soon they were not just best friends, but best friends who kissed each other. A lot. Because Archie found Maxie adorable and he found him insufferable and it somehow ended the same way. It was hardly sunshine and lollipops, but it suited them just fine. Until Archie’s words and comfort weren’t enough to make up for the rejections, each plan growing more and more radical, until he dared to suggest they capture Groudon and make new land for Pokemon. This one came back with a green stamp, and he came to Archie with the hugest grin he’d seen then or since.

"They finally said yes!" he’d said, shoving the paper into his hands and looking so happy. But the plan horrified Archie.

"What about the Water Pokemon?" he’d asked, pointing to the picture of one of these new islands.

Maxie waved his hand dismissively. “There’s plenty of room for Water Pokemon as it is, lakes, rivers, seas. But the humans are taking more and more of the land for themselves, destroying the habitats of jungle Pokemon that can’t live anywhere else. Wild Treecko are all but gone already. This way we won’t have to!”

"But humans are disrupting the habitats of Water Pokemon already! They’re poisoning the rivers and lakes, and their shipping disturbs reefs. This will only make things worse!" he exclaimed, and Maxie’s expression started to dim.

"You don’t…you don’t like my plan?" he asked, looking at him with an expression that broke his heart into little pieces.

"Of course I do. But…it’s got some flaws, is all."

"Flaws?" he said, anger soaking his voice like a sponge. "Flaws?! Look Mr. Sea Lover, maybe you didn’t know this with you seaweed for brains, but no plan is perfect. Sacrifices must be made, and this will save the lives of millions of Pokemon and people!"

Archie was also getting angry. How could he be so one-sided? He knew how much he cared about Water Pokemon, how important they were to ecosystems and humans alike. “And what happens when the humans use up these new lands, huh? You’re just going to wreck more of the sea to make them happy?”

"I..I…"

"Face it, you’re just as bad as those industrial hogs!" he snapped, and instantly regretted it. They both went silent, Maxie’s expression one of barely held back rage and hatred. Never a good combo with a man like him.

"Maxie…"

"You know, you didn’t let me finish my good news. I’m an admin now. The Western admin. I’ll be leaving tomorrow. Those grunts will have to listen to me. Unlike some." he said with an unnerving calmness.

"Max, please don’t-"

"Leave?" he interrupted. "Why shouldn’t I? There’s nothing for me here." he said, walking away from him, back straight, steps even. Not looking back.

After that, well things sort of snowballed. Archie became the admin of the Eastern side, gathering a cult like group of underlings to support his cause to return habitats to the Water Pokemon via Kyogre. Maxie was doing much the same in the West, until the old team fell apart, leaving the new Magma and Aqua teams to emerge from their ruins. Now even they had fallen into the sands of time, their members dispersed into society, leaving only the two leaders to remember what had and what could have been.

The funny thing was, despite everything, Archie still thought Maxie was adorable. Still wanted to be there for him in his downs and help him back until he reached the peak of his mountain of potential. Still wanted to ease the near constant furrow between his brows.

Despite a fallout that almost ended the world, Archie still loved Maxie.

Funny, how some things don’t change.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm considering extending this into a longer, multi-chaptered fic, if enough people show interest. If that's something you'd like, please leave a comment! Thanks so much for reading this and DFTBA!


End file.
